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”We welcome the PRA’s announcement today on the mid-term framework for stress testing UK banks as it provides much-needed clarity for the sector as a whole through to 2018.

“The larger challengers, building societies and UK subsidiaries of foreign-owned banks can breathe a collective sigh of relief – for now at least. Fears that they may have been caught by the new rules have been allayed as the retail deposit threshold of £50bn is higher than expected.

“The Bank of England’s cyclical stress-testing scenario is both sensible and more realistic than before, though some minimum thresholds will vary by bank, making comparisons between banks difficult. The continued lag in publishing stress test results is also somewhat disappointing.”

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